After a few days of strong (force 6-7) south-westerly winds bringing heavy rain Sunday was a sunny day with a less strong but distinctly nippy north-west breeze. The sun was quite warm when the wind dropped and the various gnats and midges were flying. Snowdrops and crocus are out pretty much on schedule but midges - in February?

This series of pictures shows the range of lower plants on just one branch of about 24 inches length. It doesn’t begin to cover insects etc as the wood rots. Apparently the presence of a large number of lichen species reflects a lack of atmospheric pollution - also a wet environment. The field definitely had the latter.








This picture, not from the lane sadly, shows at least 6 different species of lichen on one piece of wood. Clicking on the picture links to the blog describing these in more detail, but it illustrates the number of species existing in close proximity and how similar they look to the non-expert!

The statistics say that wind speeds over Rossendale have approached 40 mph today. Not sure about that, but its the first time I’ve seen a crow flying directly sideways, being blown right above the lane from south to north.